Lunacy
by Celia Koda
Summary: A little twist on an old cliche. One shot.


Gary Oak looked up at the bright Sinnoh moon, his chestnut hair and angular face bathed in a milky glow from its illusion of light. His black and gold Espeon, which he had had ever since it was an Eevee, looked up at the moon in an identical fashion to its master. The wiry boy, more of a young man now than a boy, sitting on the grass looked at something else up in the inky sky – a star, alone in the darkness by the moon. Maybe it was a star? Or it could be a planet? Venus, or Mars? Was it love, or war? O planets of dichotomy, what beautiful antithesis do you hold for me? O holy moon! Holy star! Holy planet! Holy satellite of love! Holy Espeon! Holy Umbreon! Holy universe! Indeed, he thought, if I died now, with the sky enveloping me in its embrace, I'd die happy. He looked over at Gary and Umbreon, thinking that the Pokemon must feel a sort of affinity with the moon, seeing as it evolved from that plain Jane Pokemon, the Eevee – such a small, non threatening Pokemon, but with DNA so sophisticated and intricate it could evolve into a fire, electric, water, psychic, dark, grass or ice type. The wonders of Pokemon, he thought. It's true that it's a universe in itself. So that was why Gary got so interested in Pokemon. Soon he'd take over from Professor Oak as the head Professor of the Kanto region. It was amazing to believe that this young man, this comrade, this _frere d'armes _which he had known since he was a child, would become such a highly respected professor. Now, in their twenties, they realised how strong a friendship they had developed, and, much to Gary's own amusement, his Pokemon Trainer _compadre_ developed an unusual attraction towards him. Why? Gary thought. Why me? Why not one of his coordinator harem? Why not Misty, the girl he left behind, but kept coming back? Hell, why not even Brock? For now, I'm straight as an arrow, Gary thought. Or am I? He looked up at the swelling full moon, looking down on them like a proud mother and decided that after all these years, he would tell his friend, his rival, his enemy, his competitor, the truth.

"I have something for you."

"What's that, Gary?" He looked at Gary with hopeful admiration.

"It's a Pokemon egg. I've kept it with my team for a while, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that you'd benefit from it more than I would."

Standing up from the moonlight dappled grass, the friend was shocked, but awed at his friend's generosity. Gary scooped the egg out from his bag. "Here. Take it."

"Oh… Thank you." The egg was delicate, and an intricate pattern of orange and yellow zigzags adorned its surface. _'It's just like May's egg. The Eevee. I wonder how May's doing now; I wonder how that Eevee's doing. Last thing I heard from May, she was in the Johto region.' _He thought. "Thank you so much, Gary. I hope I can raise it as well as you'd be able to."

"Oh, don't give into flattery. I'm sure you'll be able to raise it well. You are a top Pokemon trainer now."

A silver light emanated from the egg, and as night turned to day, the fragile egg hatched. Egg hatching, such a fascinating and intricate metamorphosis, something that no man can ever fathom, a mystery that will never be solved, just another hidden booby trap in the Indiana Jones style chase of Pokemon. As the egg hatched, the late night turned to early morning, and the silver luminescence from the egg combined with the yellow sunrise formed an image so perfect that it was almost surreal in its beauty. Just as he imagined, only with a slight surprise in the pigmentation of the Pokemon, an Eevee, a silver Eevee, hatched from the egg.

"Now I need to find out what Pokemon I should evolve this Eevee into. I suppose I could evolve it into any of its evolutions, but I've been thinking, an Espeon would be kind of appropriate. You can't really have an Umbreon without Espeon, just like you can't have night without day, or how you can't have light without dark, Yin without Yang. What I'm trying to say, Gary, is that, seeing as we'll be together for a long time now, what with you being the new Professor soon, and me going back to Pallet, we'll be pretty much inseparable. And like you can't have me without you, you can't really have Umbreon without Espeon either. I know it's a little cliché, but what's a little predictability going to do to us? Nothing. The Moon is beautiful, and Umbreon depends on darkness, but as well as thriving on darkness, you need light too. The Moon is associated with many strong emotions, the hysterical women of the nineteenth century were said to have gone mad due to the pull of the Moon. Hey, even the word 'lunatic' comes from the word _lunar, _meaning of the moon, so what I'm trying to say is that your Umbreon needs something to ground it with. The Sun. Light against darkness. Dialectic, two contradictory elements working together, to form one. Gary, I can't wait to get to Pallet, and see mom and Professor Oak, but what I can't wait for, really, is to be able to stay with you, and care for my and your Pokemon."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Gary, what I'm trying to say is… I love you."

Gary stayed still for a moment, looking up at the rising sun. "Well Ashy boy, I didn't expect that coming from _you."_

Unlike the normal partings between the two, this departure from the Sinnoh region resulted in Gary and Ash going back to Kanto together, the ground solid beneath their feet.


End file.
